The Eldest Winchester
by Katherine997
Summary: Katherine Winchester. The eldest. The father's daughter. When John got missing, she went to her little brother, Sam, for help her to find him. Fem!Dean.
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

**22 Years ago - Lawrence, Kansas**  
It was a quiet night. The crickets chirp. A large deciduous tree with no leaves stood outside one of several suburban homes. Mary Winchester walked into the nursery with four years old girl with blonde hair and big blue eyes, Katherine Winchester.

"Come on, let's say good night to your brother," Mary said and she turned on the lights. A baby boy, not even a year old yet, Sam Winchester, was lying in his crib and looked over at Mary and Katherine.

Mary lowered Katherine to her feet. Katherine leaned over the side of the crib and kissed Sam on his forehead. "Good night, Sammy," Katherine said to her brother. Mary leaned over Sam as well. "Good night, love," She said. She brushed Sam's hair back and kissed his forehead.

Suddenly, behind them John Winchester walked into the room. "Hey, Kat." He grinned at his two girls and son. Katherine turned around and she rushed over to the man's arms. "Daddy! Daddy!"

John lifted Katherine up to his arms. "So what do you think? You think Sammy's ready to toss around a football yet?" John asked his daughter. Katherine shook her head, laughing. "No, Daddy."

"No," John laughing with her. Mary smiled and passed John and Katherine on the way out of the room. "You got her?" She asked. "I got her," John replied and he hugged Katherine closer.

John looked at his baby boy. "Sweet dreams, Sammy." Then, John carried Katherine out of the room, flipping off the lights.

... ...

Several hours later, near midnight, the lights flickered on the baby monitor sitting on a nightstand next to a photo of Mary and John. Strange noises come through the monitor. Mary, who was asleep in bed, started to wake up.

She turned on the light on the nightstand. "John?" Mary turned and saw that she was alone. She got up and walked down the hallway to Sam's nursery.

She came up to the nursery and she find a dark figure in the room, stands over Sam's crib. "John? Is he hungry?" Mary asked, thought that is was John. The figure turned to Mary slightly. "Shhh."

"All right," Mary said, realizing her husband was able to handle their little boy tonight. She headed back down the hallway. The light by the stairs was flickering. Mary frowned and got to tap at it till the light steadied. "Hm."

More flickering light was coming from downstairs: Mary eyebrows crinkled in confusion and she walked down the stairs to investigate.

As soon Mary saw John had fallen asleep, watching TV, she ran back upstairs. "Sammy! Sammy!" She entered Sam's nursery and stopped shortly.

Five seconds after she entered Sam's room, Mary screamed and awakened John and Katherine. "Mary!" John called as he ran upstairs.

"Mary!" John called out again as he burst into Sam's room. He looked around and there was nothing. John sighed and walked toward Sam's crib, "Hey, Sammy. You okay?" He asked.

Then his eyes shifted to something dark that dripping next to the baby. He touched it and then two more drops land on the back of his hand. It looked like blood. John frowned and then looked up slowly.

He was in shock; Mary was sprawled across the ceiling, the stomach of her nightgown red with blood, staring at him and struggling to breathe. John collapsed onto the floor, staring at his wife. "No! Mary!" He yelled.

Then, Mary bursts into flame. The fire spreads over the ceiling. John stared, frozen. Sam wails and John suddenly remembered that he's not alone, he get up and scoops Sam out of his crib and rushed out of the room.

Katherine came to investigate, "Daddy!" She said and then John handed her baby brother to her, "Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now, Katherine, go!" John ordered.

Katherine turned and rushed outside. John turned back to the nursery, "Mary!" He called out. The flames started erupting. Mary herself could barely be seen. "No!"

Katherine ran outside the house, holding Sam. "It's okay, Sammy," Katherine said to her baby brother as she turned to look up at Sam's window, which was lit with gold.

Then John ran outside, scoops up Katherine and Sam, and carried them both away. "I gotcha." And just then, fire exploded out of Sam's nursery window.

The Lawrence fire department arrived and so did the police and took care of everything.

Across the street from the house, John and Katherine sat on the hood of John's Impala. As John hold Sam, John looked up at the remnants of the fire. He knew from that moment, nothing was ever going to be the same again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Stanford University**

 **Present Day**

 **Katherine POV**  
It was near midnight when I arrived at Sammy's apartment. It's been two years since I've seen him. The lights of the apartment was off. I got to a window and opened it. I looked around the dark apartment and slowly walked to the kitchen.

I opened the fridge to look for something to drink. I sighed as I didn't fined a beer. What the hell? I thought. I closed the fridge and left the kitchen. I past a strings of beads at the far end of the hall. I walked into a room and I felt someone was there, waiting.

The person lunged forward and grabbed me at the shoulder. I knocked the person's arm away and aimed a strike at the person, but the person ducked. I grabbed the person's arm, swings the person around, and shoved him back.

The person kicked and then I pushed him back into another room. A glimmer of light shine on the person's face and I grinned when I saw that it was Sam. He looked older; his hair shaggier. I wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been cut over the last two years. I wondered if he had been keeping up with his training while being gone.

I ended the fight by knocking Sam down and pined him to the floor, one hand at Sam's neck and the other holding his wrist. "Easy, tiger," I said with a smile. Now my face being lightened this time by the light.

Sam was breathing hard. I guess it's been a while since he's had to fight like that. I knew it. "Kat?" He asked, gasping in shock. I giggled. "You scared the crap out of me," He said.

"That 'cause you're out of practice. How was the feel to be taking down by a girl?" She asked with a smirked. Sam let out a scoff and then he grabbed my hand away. Before I knew it, he slammed me down on the floor this time.

I let out a grunt as my head smacked against the floor. "Okay, oww," I groaned with a small chuckled of pain. "Get off of me," I said. I saw a small smile cover his lips before he rolled to his feet and pulled me up.

"Kat, what the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked. "Well," I started as I brushed down my clothes. "I was looking for a beer. Why there isn't a beer and the fridge? Where is it?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked again. I sighed. "Okay. All right. We gotta talk," I said. "Uh, the phone?" He suggested. I raised an eyebrow. "If I'd'a called, would you have picked up?" I asked.

Suddenly the room lights switched on. "Sam?" Sam and I jolt slightly and turn to the light switch. There was a female with ling wavy blonde hair. She was wearing very short shorts and a cropped Smurfs shirt. Her eyes darted between me and Sam with a little suspicion.

I looked at her a little shocked. Who is she? "Jess. Hey. Kat, this is my girlfriend, Jessica," Sam said. "Wait, your sister Katherine?" She asked and looked at me more relieved and happy. She probably thought Sam was cheating on her.

I gave her a small smile. "Hey," I said. I was still shocked that Sammy had a girlfriend. He never actually had one in his life so it's a bit shocking. And I also felt a little uncomfortable because her clothing were very showing. "I like the Smurfs. They cool," I said.

She looked down at her clothing. "I should probably go and put something better on," She said, looking between me and Sam. I nodded. "Alright, well, it was nice meeting you." I said. "I gotta borrow your boyfriend for a bit, talk about some private family business."

Jessica was about to turned to leave. "No," Sam said, stopping her. He walked over to Jessica and slipped his arm around her waist. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

I let out a sigh. "Okay. Um," I started and crossing my arms. "Dad hasn't been home in a few days." Sam didn't seem too concerned. "So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later."

I nodded slightly before lowered my head and looked back up. I looked at Jessica, who was still in Sam's arms. "Dad's on a _hunting_ trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days," I said as I looked at Sam. "Jess, excuse us. We have to go outside," Sam said, not breaking contact with me.

Sam and I walked outside the apartment's downstairs. "I mean, come on. You can't just break in, middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you," Sam said. "You're not hearing me, Sammy. Dad's missing. I need you to help me find him," I said.

"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine," Sam said.

"Not for this long," I said and then stopped when I got to the ground follor. I spun myself around and I was face to face with my little brother. "Now are you gonna come with me or not?"

"I'm not," He said. I looked at him in disbelief. "Why not?" I asked. "I swore I was done hunting. For good," Sam said. "I know It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad," I said and turned around, beginning to walk out.

"Oh yeah?" Sam replied. "When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45."

I stopped by the door. "Well, what was he supposed to do?" I asked. "I was nine years old! He was supposed to say, don't be afraid of the dark," He said. I scoffed, "Don't be afraid of the dark? Are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there."

"Yeah, I know, but still. The way we grew up; the way you had to look after me like a mother after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her," He said as I glances outside. "But we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find."

"We save a lot of people doing it, too," I said, looking at him. "You think Mom would have wanted this for us?" Sam asked. My anger was staring to boil over. I stood there, staring at my brother, before harshly opening the metal door to outside, the parking lot, where I parked my baby. "The weapon training, and melting the silver into bullets? Kat, we were raised like warriors," Sam said.

We got to the Impala. "So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it?" I asked as I turned to him. Sam shook his head, "No. Not normal. Safe,"

"And that's why you ran away," I said. "I was just going to college," He said slowly. "Dad was the one who said if I wanted to go I should stay gone."

"Well, I didn't say that, right?" I snapped. I looked away for a moment, blocking the emotions back. I changed the subject back. "Dad's in real trouble right now. If he's not dead already. I can feel it," I said.

Sam stayed silent, just looking at me. "I can't do this alone," I said honestly. I can, but I didn't went to. I needed my little brother. "Yes you can," Sam said, frowning. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can. But, I don't want to."

Sam sighed and looked down. "What was he hunting?" He asked. I nodded and opened the trunk. I reached out toward another handly and opened it. Revealing guns, knifes, everything. I put the shotgun steadied to hold the handle.

"So when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asked. "I was working my own gig in New Orleans," I replied as I continued searching. "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Sam asked, surprised.

I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm 26, dude," I said and gave a smile. Sam grinned and I looked back down, going through one last place. And I finally found it; a bunch of papers and the tape. "Here we go."

I stood back up, quickly looking through all the pages. "So Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California," I explained, passing over some of the reports to Sam. "About a month ago, this guy. They found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA."

Sam studied the reports. "So maybe he was kidnapped," He suggested, looking up at me. "Yeah. Well, here's another one in April. Another one in December 04, 03, 98, 92, ten of them over the past 20 years. All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road," I said.

"It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough. Then I receive this voice mail." And then I play the tape and Dad's voice was played.

" _Katherine . . . Something big is starting to happen . . . I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may . . . Be very careful. We're all in danger_."

I stopped the tape and I looked back up at Sam, waiting for a response. "You know there's EVP on that?" He stated, after a moment.

I smirked, "Not bad, Sammy," I said. "I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got." I hit play again. An eerie voice of a woman echoing out a single phrase.

" _. . . I can never go home . . ._ "

I stopped the tape again. "Never go home," Sam repeated. I tossed the recorder in the Duffel bag. Taking the shotgun off and closing the hood afterward. I turned to Sam.

"In almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing," I said. After a moment, Sam sighed. "All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him," He said, giving in. I nodded. Honestly, I missed my little brother.

"But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here," He said. He turned to go back to the apartment. But he turned back when I spoke. "What's first thing Monday?"

"Um, I have an interview," He said. "What, a job interview?" I asked, frowning. "No," He replied. "It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate."

"Law school?" I repeated. "Wow, that's good." He gave me a small smile. "So, do we got a deal or not?" He asked. I thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."


	3. Chapter 3

Sam and I stopped no far from Jericho, we stopped at a small gas station. I was refilling my baby with gas and I went to the main building of the station to buy some food.

I came out with chips and soda and some healthy food because that's what Sam eat and walked back to baby, to see Sam was going through my music, a shoe box full of my cassette tapes. "Hey!" I called, coughing his attention. "You want breakfast?" I asked as I hold up the chips and soda.

"No, thanks," Sam replied. "So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?"

"Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career, Sammy," I replied and I put the nozzle back on the pump. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

"Yeah? And what names did you write on the application this time?" Sam asked as he closed the passenger door. "Uh, Burt Aframian," I started and got into the driver seat and put my soda and chips down. "And his daughter Carrie. Scored two cards out of the deal." I closed the door.

"That sounds about right," Sam agreed as he gave a small chuckle and then looked back at the tapes. "I swear, Kat, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection," He said as he looked back at me.

"Why?" I asked, frowning. "Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two- Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and took the box labeled Metallica from him. "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock," He said.

"Well, house rules, Sammy," I started and put the tape in the player. "Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole." I put the Metallica box back in the box of tapes and started the engine.

"Oh, here it's for you," I said, handing him the bag with his food. He stared at the bag with food that I put on his led before looking at me. "You know, Sammy is a chubby 12 year old. It's Sam, okay?" Sam said as the music started. "Sorry, _Sammy_ , I can't hear you, the music's too loud," I said, smirking and drive off.

"JERICHO 7".  
Only seven miles from Jericho, Sam and I were still in baby. Sam was talking on his cell phone, seeing of there was anything to find about Dad. "Okay, thank you," Sam said and closed his phone. "All right. So, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or morgue. So that's something, I guess."

I glanced over at Sam, then back at the road. At a bridge ahead of us, there were two police cars and several officers. "Check it out," I said. Sam leaned forward for a closer look.

I pulled over. We took a long look before I turned off the engine. I opened the glove compartment and pulled out the box full of ID cards with mine and Dad's faces: visible ones include FBI and DEA.

I picked one out and grinned at Sam, who stared. "Let's go," I said. Sam sighed before following me out of the car.

"Did you guys find anything?" One of the sheriff yell. "No," Another sheriff said and Sam and I heard their conversation.

"You guys had another one like this just last month, didn't you?" I asked. The man turned around. "And who are you?" The sheriff asked. I flashed my badge. "Federal Marshals," I said and then quickly put it back in my pocket.

"You two are a little young for marshals, aren't you?" Deputy Jaffe asked. I gave him a flirty smile. "You sure know the way to a woman's heart, huh?" And then I went back to be serious and walked around the car. "You did have another one just like this, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right. About a mile up the road. There've been others before that," Deputy Jaffe replied. "So this victim, you knew him?" Sam asked. Deputy Jaffe nodded. "A town like this, everyone known everybody," Deputy Jaffe replied.

"Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?" I asked. "No. Not so far as we can tell," Deputy Jaffe replied.

"So what's the theory?" Sam asked. "Honestly, we don't know. Serial murderer, kidnapping ring," Deputy Jaffe said.

"Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys," I said. Sam stomped on my foot and the Deputy frowned. "Thank you for your time," Sam said.

Sam started to walk away. "Gentlemen," Sam said as I followed him. I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head.

I caught up to Sam, staying slightly behind him. As soon as I saw the officers look away and talk to each other again, I turned and smacked Sam on the head. Hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" He asked. "You stepped on my food! Why'd you have to step on my foot? And now I have marks on the top of my best shoes!" I said. "You're such a girl . . . And why do you have to talk to the police like that?" He asked.

I stopped in front of my brother, forcing him to stop walking. "Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves," I said.

Sam looked over my shoulder and cleared his throat. I frowned and turned around, to see a Sheriff and two FBI agents, walking over. "Can I help you two?" The Sheriff asked us.

I scook my head. "No, sir, we were just leaving," I said and me and Sam walked away. As the FBI agents walk past, I nodded at each of them. "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully."


	4. Chapter 4

Sam and I got to down town, looking for a girl name Amy. I spotted a girl putting pink flyers. "I bet you that's her," I said to Sam as I pointed to the girl. "Yeah," Sam said and we walked over to her.

"Hey, you must be Amy," I said. "Yeah," Amy said. "Troy told us about you. We're his cousins. I'm Katherine, this is Sammy," I said. "He never mentioned you to me," She said and then started walking again, and we followed. "Yeah, that's Troy," I said. "We're not around much, we're up in Modesto."

"So, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around," Sam said. Some girl come up to Amy. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked. "Yeah," Amy said to her. "Do you mind if we ask you a couple questions?" Sam asked Amy. She just nodded her head and lead us to a diner.

I was sitting with Sam and Amy and her friend sat in front of us. "I was on the phone with Troy. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and . . . he never did," Amy said to us.

"He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" Sam asked. Amy shook her head. "No. Nothing I can remember," Amy replied.

"I like your necklace," Sam said, looking at Amy's necklace. Amy hold the pendant she's wearing, a pentagram in a circle, and looked down at it. "Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents," Amy said and she chuckled a little, "With all that devil stuff."

I gave her a small smile. "Actually, it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing," Sam said.

I sighed. "Okay. Thank you, Unsolved Mysteries," I said, patting Sam's back before turning to the two girls again. "Alright, here's what's going on. The way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So if you've heard anything," I said. Amy and the girl, Rachel shared a look and I frowned. "What is it?"

"Well, it's just . . . I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk," Rachel said. "What do they talk about?" Sam and I asked at the same time.

Rachel and Amy looked at each other and then back at us. "It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago," Rachel said.

Sam and I shared a look. Bingo, we have something here. "Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever," Rachel said.

... ...

We were at the library, doing research. "Let me try," Sam said. I shook my head, "I got it," I said. He grabbed my chair and pushed me away. "Dude!" I said.

"So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" Sam asked and I nodded. "Then it wasn't a murder," He said as he change Murder to suicide. He pressed enter, making it calculate. He pressed the one article and surfing through it. The report was created on April 25th, 1981.

A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road, leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night.

Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several [minutes]. She reported that their complex-[. . .]

What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time."

At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager.

"Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew," said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. "She just doted on those children."

"This was 1981. Constance Welch, 24 years old, jumps off Sylvania Bridge, drowns in the river," Sam read. "Does it say why she did it?" I asked. "Yeah," He muttered.

"What?" I asked. "An hour before they found her, she calls 911. Apparently her two little kids are in the bathtub. She leaves them alone for a minute, and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die," He said.

I just looked sadly at the article. "Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it,' said husband Joseph Welch," Sam read. "The bridge look familiar to you?" I asked, pointing at the bridge.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the middle of the night when we got to the bridge. Sam and I looked over the railing. "So this is where Constance took the swan dive," I said. "So you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked and we looked at each other.

I shrugged, "Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him," I replied and started to walk down the bridge. "Okay, so now what?" He asked, following me. "Now we keep digging until we find him. Might take a while," I said.

"Kat, I told you," Sam started and I turned around to see that he stopped, "I've gotta get back by Monday -"

"Monday," I cut him off. "Yeah, I know. The interview."

"Yeah," Sam said. "Yeah, I didn't forgot. You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?" I asked. "Maybe. Why not?" Sam asked. "Does Jessica know the truth about you?" I asked. "I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

"No, and she's not ever going to know," Sam said. "Well, isn't that a healthy relationship," I said sarcastically. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are - A hunter." With that I turned around and continued to walk away.

"No. I'm not like you," He said and stood in front of me. "This is not going to be my life." I scoffed, "Sam, you have a responsibility," I said.

"To Dad? And his crusade?" He asked and I stared at him. "If it weren't for pictures I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom's gone. And she isn't coming back."

 _Enough!_

I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against the railing of the bridge. I tried my best not to lash out on him. I stared at him for a moment. "Never talk about her like that," I spoke, deadly calm.

Sam just stared at me as I finally let go of him. I gave him one last look before looking away from him and started to walk away but then I stopped a few step forward. There was a woman standing at the edge of the railing. "Sammy," I said.

He stood beside me as we watched the woman. She slowly looked over at us, then stepped forward off the edge and fell forwards towards the rocky water. Sam and I took off running to the spot she jumped from and looked over.

There was no one there.

"Where'd she go?" I asked, searching the river. "I don't know," Sam said. Then we heard the engine of a car. I whipped my head to see my car turned on. "What the . . .?" I asked confused. "Who's driving your car?" Sam asked.

Without taking my eyes off, I pulled out the keys and showed it to him. The tires of wheel squealed, coming straight toward us. It started picking up speed. "Go! Run!" I yelled, pulling Sam back and we started ran away.

We were going to be trapped, "Jump!" Sam yelled. And that's what we did. We jumped and I hit the water. "Kat! Kat!" I heard Sam calling me as I started to crawling out of the water and onto the mud, panting and annoyed. "What?!"

"Kat, hey! Are you all right?" Sam asked. I hold up one hand in an A-OK sign. "I'm super," I said sarcastically. Sam laughed and he started to swing his legs over to the bridge. I looked down at myself. I was covered in mud! My clothes!

"JUMP?! What the hell have you thinking?!" I yelled at Sam and heard him laughing. I groaned as I started to walk to the bridge and soon saw Sam.

I checked my car and sighed in relief that the car was okay. I shut the hood of the car and leaned on it. "Your car all right?" Sam asked, walking up to me. "Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now," I replied before looking at the bridge, "That Constance chick, what a bitch!"

"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure," Sam said, standing beside me. "So where's the job go from here, genius?" I just flapped my hands up with a shrug, splatting some of the mud on the ground. I sighed sadly, looking down at myself.

Sam sniffed, then he looked at me, "You smell like a toilet," He comment. I gave him a dirty glare before having an idea. "You always know how to make me fell like a princess, Sammy," I said and before he knew it, I gave him a hug, letting some mud to get on him and he tired to push me away but I gave a small giggle.

I pulled away and he gave me a look when he noticed that some of the mud was on him. I smirked, "That's what happen when you say to a woman that she smell like a toilet," I comment. He rolled his eyes but I saw a small smirk coming from his lips.

...

By the time we got to a nearest motel, it was already early in the morning. We walked to the motel and the clerk was shocked to see me, still covered in the mud. I sighed, putting down credit card. The clerk looked at the card before grabbing it. "One room, please," I said.

"You guys having a reunion or something?" The clerk asked. I furrowed my eyebrows, "What do you mean?" Sam asked. "I had another guy, Burt Aframian," The clerk said. "He came and bought out a room for the whole month." Me and Sam shared a glance.

Sam did the whole lock picking while I was doing the lookout. Before I knew it, Sam grabbed my arm, pulling me inside the room the he unlocked. Sam turned on the lights and we were shocked.

Every vertical surface had papers pinned to it: maps, newspaper clippings, pictures, notes. There were books on the desk and assorted junk on the floor and bed, including something with a hazardous - materials symbol.

"Whoa," Sam said and I walked to the bed and turned on a light by it. I picked up a half-eaten hamburger sitting there before sniffing the burger and immediately gagging at the smell. "I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least."

Sam bend down to the floor, where there was a line of salt. "Salt, cats-eye shells . . . he was worried," He said, running his fingers over the salt. "Trying to keep something from coming in."

I looked at the wall beside me at the papers. I walked up to it and studied it. There was picture and comments written about the victims. They were all on a line. "What have you got here?" Sam asked.

"Centennial Highway victims," I replied. "I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?"

I heard Sam letting out a small huff. "Dad figured it out," He said. I turned to look at him, "What do you mean?" I asked. "He found the same article we did. Constance Welch. She's a woman in white," He replied.

I looked back to the men on the wall, "Now we know," I said, "All right." I looked back at Sam, "So if we're dealing with a woman in white, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it."

"She might have another weakness," Sam said. "Well, Dad would want to make sure," I said as I walked over to him, "He'd dig her up. Does it say where she's buried?" Sam shook his head, looking back at the paper, "No, not that I can tell. If I were Dad, though, I'd go ask her husband. If he's still alive."

"All right. Why don't you, uh, see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up," I said and started to walk away to the bathroom.

"Hey, Kat?" Sam started and I stopped and turned around. "What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry," He said and I hold up my hand, stopping him from continuing. "Hey, no chick-flick moments," I joked.

Sam gave a small chuckle. "All right. Jerk," Sam said. I dropped my hand to my side. "Bitch," I comment before walking to the bathroom. I smiled when I heard him giving a small laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

I got out the bathroom and saw Sam on the bed with his phone. "Hey, I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?" I asked.

"No," Sam replied. "You sure? Aframian's buying," I said. "Mm-mm," He said, shaking his head. I sighed and opened the door. I walked out and closed the door behind me. I'll grab something for him, even if he said he didn't want to.

I looked over and saw a police car, where the Clark was talking to the Deputy and the other cop. Oh shit! The Clark looked at me and pointed. I turned around as the Deputy and his partner started making their way towards me and I pulled out my phone.

Sam!

I dialed Sam's number. " _What?_ " He asked. "Dude, five-oh, take off," I said, glancing over my shoulder. " _What about you?_ " He asked. "They kinda spotted me. Go find Dad, I'll find a way out, don't worry," I said and with that I closed my phone.

I turned around and grinned at the Deputies. "Problem, officers?" I asked. "Where's your partner?" Deputy Jaffe asked, crossing his arms. "Partner?" I asked, confused. "What partner?"

Deputy Jaffe glanced over his shoulder and jerked his thumb towards the motel room. His partner headed over there and I watched. "So," Deputy Jaffe started and I looked back at him. "Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?"

I gave him a serious look, "My boobs," I said, crossing my arms. And with that, I found myself pinned face down on a car, my hands handcuffed behind my back. "You have the right to remain silent . . ."

... ...

I was at the police station and right now I was at the Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff suddenly walked in, carrying a big brown box in his arms. "So you want to give us your real name?" He asked.

"I told you, it's Hathaway. Anne Hathaway," I joked as he set the box on the table. "I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here," He said.

I tilted my head. "We talkin', like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or, uh, squeal like a pig trouble?" I joked. "You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall. Along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo," He said. "Girl, you are officially a suspect."

"That makes sense. Because when the first one went missing in '82 I was three," I said and clapped my hands together. "Well done, Sheriff. The case is closed."

"I know you've got partners. One of 'em's an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing," He said. I gave him a innocent smile and shrugged as he reached into the box. "So tell me," He said. " _Katherine_." I frowned and he threw a very large, old and dirty journal in front of me.

I looked at the book. It was Dad's journal. He would never left it behind. "Is this his?" The Sheriff asked. He went over to one side of the table, sitting on the edge, "I thought that might be your name," He said.

He reached for the journal and started to turn page after page, "See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out - I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy." I glared at the pages. "But I found this, too," He said and reached for a page and then moving it closer for me to see.

'KATHERINE 35-111', circled, with nothing else on that page. "Now. You're stayin' right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means," The Sheriff declared.

... ...

"How many times I gotta tell you? It's my high school locker combo," I said, glaring at the Sheriff. It was dark outside and I just wanted to get the hell out of there to find Sam. Hoping he was okay.

"We gonna do this all night long?" He asked. One of the deputy's suddenly walked in the open doorway, looking at the Sheriff, "We just got a 911, shots fired over at Whiteford Road."

With that he walked away and the Sheriff looked back at me. "You have to go to the bathroom?" He asked. I frowned, "No," I said.

"Good," He said and then he reached to the back of his belt and pulled out the handcuffs and he put them on me. Then the Sheriff walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and locking it.

I sighed and looked back at the journal. I noticed a paper clip poking out of the journal. I pulled it out and looked at it before smirking.

It took me just a minuet to get those cuffs off. I glanced out the window and saw the Sheriff and a few deputy's getting out. I looked around the room and walked to the large window. I opened it and walked back to the table to grab Dad's journal.

I walked back to the window as I placed the journal into my inside pocket jacket. I looked down outside and saw the fire escape and smirked. I squeezed through the window and got to the fire escape.

I got down and pulled out Dad's journal before running away. After I was away from the police station, I found a phone booth and walked towards it. I put a coin inside and dialed Sam's number.

He picked up. "A fake 911 phone call, Sammy? I don't know, that's pretty illegal," I teased, grinning. " _You're welcome_ ," He said, giving a small chuckle. "Listen, we gotta talk," I said, seriously.

" _Tell me about it_ ," He said. " _So the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop_."

"Sammy, would you shut up for a second?" I asked. " _I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet_ ," Sam said. "That's what I'm trying to tell you," I said. "He's gone. Dad left Jericho."

" _What? How do you know?_ " He asked. "I've got his journal," I said, looking at the book. " _He doesn't go anywhere without that thing_ ," He comment.

"He did this time," I said. " _What's it say?_ " He asked. "It's the same old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going," I said.

" _Coordinates. Where to?_ " He asked. "Not sure," I replied, shaking my head. " _I don't understand_ ," He said. " _I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Kat, what the hell is going on?_ "

I opened my mouth but then I heard the squeal of a car tires swerving and the phone was dropped. "Sam?" I asked as my eyes widened. "Sammy!"

" _Take me home_." With that the line was cut off. "Oh no," I said to myself before running from the booth.

... ...

I ran fast as I could, all the way, to the Welch's original house. Where Constance was buried in the back yard. I reached to the house and heard Sam's screams of pain.

I rushed their and found him and my Baby parked in the front. I grabbed my gun the moment I was only a couple of feet away. I ran to the driver's window. I saw Constance sitting on top of Sam's lap. Her hand dug in his chest.

Without even thinking, I began to shoot. The bullets passed through her and Constance disappeared. "I'm taking you home," Sam growled, and he turned the engine on and the car drive, crashing into the house.

"Sam!" I yelled. I ran inside, "Sam!" I yelled as I walked around the car, to the side that wasn't covered in wood. "Here," Sam said. I smiled in relief as I heard his voice.

"You okay?" I asked as I opened the passenger's seat. "I think," He said, groaning. "Can you move?" I asked. "Yeah. Help me," He said.

I helped him out and wrapped my arm around his waist to kept him standing. We looked up and saw Constance standing there, looking at a photograph

She looked up and glared at us before throwing the picture to the floor and moved aside. Suddenly, a bureau came sliding down, pinning us all onto the car.

The lights started flickering, the house didn't even have electricity anymore. Constance looked around confused. And so did we.

Water began to pour down the staircase, dripping through the sides. Constance looked up, her two children were there. " _You've come home to us, Mommy_ ," They said in an eerie, quiet voice.

A distraught look appeared on her face. She backed up, and turned around only to be embraced by her children. Constance let out an ear- piercing scream, obviously in pain. Constance and her children fell into a puddle on the floor. We shoved the bureau away and we made our way toward the spot.

"So this is where she drowned her kids," I said. Sam nodded. "That's why she could never go home," He said. "She was too scared to face them."

"You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy," I said, giving him a good hard slap in the chest, where Constance had attacked him and smirked. "Ah!" Sam laughed through the pain. "Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"

"Hey. Saved your ass," I replied, looking at him before looking at my Baby. "I'll tell you another thing." I narrowing my eyes. "If you screwed up my car." I looked at him. "I'll kill you." Sam laughed, knowing I was kidding.

... ...

We drove down the road. Sam had dad's journal open to the page "KATHERINE 35-111" and a map open on his lap and was finding coordinates with a ruler, a flashlight tucked between chin and shoulder. "Okay, here's where Dad went. It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado."

"Sounds charming," I said sarcastically. "How far?" He looked back at the map. "About 600 miles," He said. I nodded but then glanced at him. It was Saturday night, nearly Sunday. I knew there was no way there will be time to travel.

I sighed sadly. "Do you still want to go back?" I said. Sam looked up at me. "Kat, I . . ." He started. "You have to . . . I know," I said and cleared my throat. "I'll take you home." Sam turned off the flashlight.

...

We finally got to Sam's apartment and I parked Baby in front of it. There was a moment of silence before Sam climbed out, pulling out his bag. He closed the door and band down to look at me through the opened window. "Call me if you find him?"

I nodded in response and gave him a small smile. "And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?" He suggested. "Yeah, all right," I said with a shrug.

Sam looked at me for a moment, giving me a small smile and then he patted the car, as a goodbye. "Hey, Sam," I called and he turned around halfway. "You know, we made a hell of a team back there," I comment. "Yeah," Sam agreed. I gave a small nod before turning on the engine and drove away.

I sighed and looked down at the watch. I frowned when i saw it didn't worked. My eyes grow wide and the first thing that popped to my mind was Sam could be in trouble and I slammed the brakes and make a U-Turn.

I got to Sam's apartment and climbed out. I ran inside with my keys in hand. "No!" I heard Sam's yelling. "Jess!"

"Sam!" I said and kicked down the door. I ran through the apartment. I ran to the bedroom doorway and my eyes grow wide. The room started to file with fire. Jessica was hanging from the ceiling, her stomach sliced opened and bleeding, her body was getting melt from the flames.

"Jess!"

I snapped out of it when I heard Sam's voice. He was lying on the bed, looking at Jess in horror. I reached to him and grabbed his arm, "No! No!" He said, struggling from my grip.

"Sam, we need to go! Now!" I screamed and started to get him out. "No! Jess!" I ignored him and managed to get him out.

... ...

The firetruck was parked outside. I watched the scene in the side of the crowd of people. I glanced around and spotted Sam at Baby's trunk. I walked up to him and saw that he was loading a shotgun.

I looked at the trunk, then at him. He looked at me and quickly looked down and sighed. He tossed the shotgun on the trunk. "We got work to do," He said and slammed the trunk shut.

"Sammy," I started. "I'm fine," He said. I shook my head. "No. No you not," I said. He glanced at me, I could see tears in his eyes and I wanted nothing more then take his pain away.


	7. Chapter 7

It's been a week since Jessica's death and I stayed with Sam at Stanford since then, but we need to move on. Look for Dad and the son of a bitch who killed Jess.

I was driving down the highway, to the Blackwater Ridge, Colorado. I glanced at Sam, who was sleeping in the passenger seat. His head was leaning against the window side of the seat.

I was worried about him, even since Jess, I noticed he was having nightmares. Every night. I looked back at the road and after a moment, Sam jerked awake. I glanced at him again as he blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"You okay?" I asked, concerned and looked back at the road. "Yeah, I'm fine," He said and I nodded. "Another nightmare?" I asked. But he just cleared his throat.

"You wanna drive for a while?" I asked. I glanced at him and he looked at me and gave a small laugh. "Kat, your whole life you never once asked me that," He remarked.

I rolled my eyes as I looked back at the road. "Just thought you might want to. Never mind," I muttered. "Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay," He assured.

"Mm-hm," I said. He cleared his throat again as he grabbed the map. "All right, where are we?" He asked. "We are just outside of Grand Junction," I said.

Sam folded down the map, which was of Colorado and had a large red X labeled 35-111. "You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon," Sam said.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica -"

"We gotta find Dad first," He cut me off and let out a sigh, "I know, I know."

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence," I said. "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do."

"It's weird, Kat. These coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge," He said. "What about it?" I asked, frowning. "There's nothing there. It's just woods," He said and let the map fell to his lap. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

I shared a look with him before looking back at the road. Soon, we past the National Forest sign that was saying, "Welcome to LOST CREEK COLORADO National Forest".

We stopped at the Ranger Station and went inside. "So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote," Sam said, looking at a 3D map of the national forest, paying particular attention to the ridge labeled "BLACKWATER RIDGE" while I looked at the decorations. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place."

I looked at a framed photo of a man standing behind a much larger bear. "Dude, check out the size of this freaking bear," I said and he came over.

"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure," He stated. "You kids aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" A voice said from behind us as we turned around to see a older man with a mug of coffee on one hand and the other hand on his hip.

"Oh, no, sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper," Sam said. I smiled and raised a fist, "Recycle, man."

"Bull," The Ranger said. I looked at Sam and he at me before we looked back at the Ranger. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" He asked.

"Yes," I said, nodding my head as he walked to his desk, placing the coffee on it. "Yes, we are, Ranger -" I glanced at his nametag, "- Wilkinson."

He gave a small chuckle as he looked away from us, "Well, I will tell you exactly what we told her," He started as he looked at us. "Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?"

"No," I lied, shaking my head. "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine," He said as he grabbed him mug and walked away from his desk. "We will," I said and thought for a second and chuckled a little. "Haley's quite a tough girl, huh?"

"That is putting it mildly," He agreed. "You know what would help? Is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date," I suggested. He thought for a moment before nodding his head, sighing.

Sam and I walked out of the station. I folded up the piece of paper that the Ranger gave me after I read it and shoved it into my pocket.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked. "What do you mean?" I asked, frowning as I looked at him but he just kept looking forwards.

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?" He asked and looked at me as we stopped at our doors of Baby.

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" I asked and I stared at him for a moment. "What?" He asked.

"Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Since now," He said and climbed inside. "Oh, really?" I asked as he shut the door. "That's not good, now, he's more like me," I said to myself before climbing inside the driver seat.

We arrived to the Collins house and rang the doorbell. The door opened by a woman, looked a bit younger then me, she had a pale skin and black hair.

I gave her a warm smile, "Hey, you must be Haley Collins," I said and then pointed my finger at me, "I'm Katherine." Then I pointed my finger at Sam, "This is Sam. We're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy."

Haley glanced at me then at my brother before looking back at me, "Lemme see some ID." I nodded, "Of course," I said and pulled out my fake ID with the name 'Katherine Cole' and holded it up.

She looked at it and then gave a small nod. "Come on in," She said and opened the mosquito net covering the door. "Thanks," I said.

"That yours?" She asked, looking over my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder and saw she was talking about my car. I smiled as I looked back at her, "Yeah."

"Nice car," She compliment with a small smile before walking back into the house. I grinned and looked at Sam and winked as I stepped inside the house. He rolled his eyes but I caught a small smile slipping from his lips as he followed me inside.

We walked into the kitchen, where there was a younger boy, mast be Haley and Tommy's younger brother. "So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asked.

Haley came back into the room, with two bowls in her hands, "He checks in every day by cell," She explained as she placed the bowls on the table. "He emails, photos, stupid little videos - we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Well, maybe he can't get cell reception," Sam suggested. She shook her head, "He's got a satellite phone, too," She replied. "So maybe he forgot to check in?" I asked.

"He wouldn't do that," The boy spoke up. I looked at him, frowning and he looked away. "Our parents are gone," Haley said. "It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked. "Yeah," She agreed, nodding. She showed us her laptop and started showing us pictures. "That's Tommy." She clicked twice and another picture came up, then the still frame opening the latest video.

"Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow."

"We'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing," I said to Haley. She nodded, "Then maybe I'll see you there," She said and I frowned. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself," She explained.

I gave a small nod. I understood. I really did. It if was Sammy insted of Tommy, I would have done the same like Haley. "I know how you feel," I said. She gave me a thankful smile.

"Hey, do you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked. She gave him a nod, "Sure."


End file.
